Jump to content

12/09/12: Happy iPhone 5 Day

Essruu

By Essruu,
in Technology Chat

 Share

Recommended Posts

saintbletch

saintbletch

Posted
Posted
doesn't look very official to me.

 

I thought the same sotonjoe.

 

Maybe it was a leaked early version of the animation but it look a little clunky somehow. But someone has spent some serious time creating the video. Perhaps it's cleverly leaked by Apple, and the actual iPhone 5 will be much better than the video suggests? They are pretty smart at the marketing and pretty good at keeping a lid on leaks so I have trouble thinking that this will be the finished product.

 

Some interesting, if a little provocative comments here ahead of the launch.

 

I can't help thinking that Apple will be keeping an enormous surprise back. They used to do when Steve Jobs was running the show. Perhaps that rumoured 4" screen will be much bigger?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pedg

pedg

Posted
Posted

Its odd. Usually with an iPhone launch there is wall to wall media coverage but it all appears to be a lot less this year. Even the coverage is the usually rabidly pro-apple Guardian is more restrained. But then as far as today goes I don't think any newspaper is going to risk putting a new phone as a bigger story than Hillsborough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Whitey Grandad

Whitey Grandad

Posted
Posted
There's an app for that.

 

My best wishes to you and yours Whitey Grandad.

 

Why, thank you sir. 42 not out. Do you think my shiny IPhone 4 will be replaced by a new model as a present?

 

Nah, you're right, no chance. Where are all the usual shots of people queuing round the block and sleeping under newspapers?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
saintbletch

saintbletch

Posted
Posted
As if to emphasis the lack of buzz around the new iPhone it was announced hours ago and no one, not even essie, has posted anything here about it (well till this message anyway).

 

Yep, it'll still sell like hot cakes but it's nothing ground breaking.

 

I'd be happy with one - if I hadn't tried Android and been spoiled by the screen on my GSII.

 

Still staggered that there doesn't appear to have been any surprises.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Whitey Grandad

Whitey Grandad

Posted
Posted
Do wonder if this will be apples 'Vista' moment? Rumour is they are even going to charge $30 for the adapter so you can use this phone with previous docks etc (http://www.stuff.tv/news/apple-news/news-nugget/iphone-5-adapter-will-cost-you-a-cheeky-us30) which is just taking the pish really.

 

I remember that now. This really will be a product killer. All those car kits and docks represent a hefty investment. If you're forced to change them you might as well change manufacturer at the same time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pap

pap

Posted
Posted

At this point, I've had the 4 for a couple of years. I'm a reluctant Macsturbator. I buy the products but am still critical of their approach on a lot of things. I'm pretty much locked in now, due to app purchases, etc.

 

For all the crap they get, haven't had too many problems with the unit itself. Ms pap has had terrible bother with her HTC, and we've both been burned by Samsung before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Essruu

Essruu

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Definitely missed a trick with no NFC. That might have made upgrading worthwhile.

 

Really? How many outlets can you use NFC at? Of those, how many actually have them switched on?

 

Apple's wallet-replacement Passbook will become the way to go for retailers who don't want the expense of NFC hardware. All they need is their gift card linked to Passbook: parents and grannies giving birthday gifts, Starbucks cards, existing High St stores' gift cards infrastructure is already out there. Added to this Airline tickets/boarding passes, sports tickets, theatre tickets, etc., It's a no-brainer. One step away for Apple is having your credit/debit card properly linked and, hey presto: a barcode that can be scanned at virtually every till for instant payment. Bye bye patchy NFC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pedg

pedg

Posted
Posted
Really? How many outlets can you use NFC at? Of those, how many actually have them switched on?

 

Apple's wallet-replacement Passbook will become the way to go for retailers who don't want the expense of NFC hardware. All they need is their gift card linked to Passbook: parents and grannies giving birthday gifts, Starbucks cards, existing High St stores' gift cards infrastructure is already out there. Added to this Airline tickets/boarding passes, sports tickets, theatre tickets, etc., It's a no-brainer. One step away for Apple is having your credit/debit card properly linked and, hey presto: a barcode that can be scanned at virtually every till for instant payment. Bye bye patchy NFC.

 

I rather suspect these companies will be looking for solutions for all their customers with smart phones not just the minority that have iphones. Also as far as Passbook being an alternative to NFC there is something of a difference between:

 

'Ah wait a minute while I get the right app up and then select the right bar code and then pass it to you so you can scan it'

 

and

 

'swipe phone over scanner'

 

NFC may not be that big at the moment but who knows what will happen in the next year and by excluding it from the iPhone 5 apple have made sure they will not be involved till the almost inevitable iPhone 5S (as 5S looks rather similar to SS I suspect they may go straight to 6) in a years time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
saintbletch

saintbletch

Posted
Posted (edited)
I rather suspect these companies will be looking for solutions for all their customers with smart phones not just the minority that have iphones. Also as far as Passbook being an alternative to NFC there is something of a difference between:

 

'Ah wait a minute while I get the right app up and then select the right bar code and then pass it to you so you can scan it'

 

and

 

'swipe phone over scanner'

 

NFC may not be that big at the moment but who knows what will happen in the next year and by excluding it from the iPhone 5 apple have made sure they will not be involved till the almost inevitable iPhone 5S (as 5S looks rather similar to SS I suspect they may go straight to 6) in a years time.

 

Completely I agree with your analysis of the likely take off of NFC versus other mechanisms pedg. Certain retailers will jump at finding new ways to get people (initially teens and twenty-somethings) back into their shops to try a new way of shopping. Banks and the like will promote it too. Once it gets a critical mass then all retailers will have to have it and its use will widen to include older, less tech-savvy people. Not sure about the timescales though.

 

That said, you seem to think that Apple has made a mistake in not including NFC. I'd suggest that, as with all iPhone launches, Apple knows exactly what it is doing.

 

The strength of Apple's brand, the beauty of its products and the puppetry with which it is able to control its customers (we can see your strings Essruu) means that they can leave out killer features and afford to be multiple revisions of technology behind.

 

They know that they can sell a shed load of iPhone 5 models (despite the apparent meh-ness of its features). They know that they're brand-loyal customers will wait to buy the 5s (with NFC) rather than leaving the fold to use NFC.

 

Apple first has to ensure that it can dominate, or at least grab its share, of the transactions that will go over NFC. I'm sure one of the reasons for a delay is to ensure they can milk a small percentage of each transaction - or perhaps they'll go the whole hog and introduce Apple iBank - the best thing to happen to banking since banking. They already have a lot of the machinery with iTunes.

 

I think one of the most interesting thing about Apple purchasers (and I've been one before and probably will be again) is how they/we will readily bend over while Apple introduces yet another proprietary way of doing things that, with no surprise, costs more with Apple. It's marketing genius.

 

But, I think the cracks might start to show. Where once they could guarantee dominating an area such as NFC and perhaps even drive their own standards, Android is getting a lot of market share and quickly. Multiple manufacturers, competing to make differentiated handsets on the same platform means that Android technology will progress immensely faster than Apple can in the coming years. Cheaper tablets are providing more choice too, so iOS penetration will likely go down per capita in the coming years. Personally, I think you'll also see subsequent iPhone launches happening more frequently.

 

There's no doubt that there is something very special about having an iPhone or iPad in your hand (or indeed owning any Apple product). It's intangible but it does cast its spell. And not everyone needs, or indeed feels comfortable with the latest technology. But more and more people are looking at the iPhone ingredients, and at that very old fashioned looking home screen, and at that price tag and are starting to ask themselves if they might enjoy something a bit more modern.

Edited by saintbletch
Link to comment
Share on other sites
pedg

pedg

Posted
Posted (edited)
I'm sure one of the reasons for a delay is to ensure they can milk a small percentage of each transaction

 

My bet is that they saw they could only get a small percentage or small per transaction fee rather than the usual 20% on just about everything else bought through them and decided it was not worth the effort.

 

Having said that it really is an area where, because most current NFC systems, such as oyster cards, are proprietary, there is no easy way to tie them all together. It would be so much better if they could all be loaded onto one device, especially one that was network connected so they could be disabled if lost and synced to a new device. It would be very useful to end up being able to user one device to say go on the tube, buy groceries, open your car and gain admission to a football ground rather than dig out the card for each (personally found that when I had 2 cards in my wallet the readers for each would not work until they were separated).

Edited by pedg
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Michelle

Michelle

Posted
Posted
Next step in the big book of iphone release strategy is to make sure that initially nowhere has enough stock to make sure that the media run more hype stories about how the iphone release is sold out.

 

Already on two week despatch for every model online. The power of the brand strikes again.

 

Good job hubby got our order in early. =)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pedg

pedg

Posted
Posted
Already on two week despatch for every model online. The power of the brand strikes again.

 

Good job hubby got our order in early. =)

 

As above the question is whether they really underestimated how many would be bought or whether the deliberately limit the numbers initially to drive the 'iphone is sold out' press stories.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Essruu

Essruu

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

Having said that it really is an area where, because most current NFC systems, such as oyster cards, are proprietary, there is no easy way to tie them all together. It would be so much better if they could all be loaded onto one device, especially one that was network connected so they could be disabled if lost and synced to a new device. It would be very useful to end up being able to user one device to say go on the tube, buy groceries, open your car and gain admission to a football ground rather than dig out the card for each (personally found that when I had 2 cards in my wallet the readers for each would not work until they were separated).

 

Oh, wait... you just described Passbook and why Apple was right to forget NFC!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pedg

pedg

Posted
Posted
Oh, wait... you just described Passbook and why Apple was right to forget NFC!

 

Okay essie you try and use passbook to go on the tube, buy groceries (not just use a discount voucher), open you car and gain admission to a football stadium and when you have done that I will accept I just described passbook. Otherwise no.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Essruu

Essruu

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Okay essie you try and use passbook to go on the tube, buy groceries (not just use a discount voucher), open you car and gain admission to a football stadium and when you have done that I will accept I just described passbook. Otherwise no.

 

It's doable, and doable a lot cheaper for merchants than upgrading all of their tills and terminals to accept NFC payments from the tiny amount of handsets that can use them!

 

My Starbucks card and balance will be straight on my lockscreen when I walk into a Starbucks store. My Apple giftcards balance likewise, any discount voucher or gift card total for other stores just the same. I can top up my card in-store (and probably eventually in-app); if I can do this with all of these retailers, it's not a big jump to imagine Oyster developing an App to integrate with Passbook also.

 

Some American airlines have already embraced Passbook, bringing up your boarding pass as you enter the airport. It notifies you of delays and gate changes automatically and even gives directions to the gate and estimated time to get there. I've used UK Airlines' own Apps and e-boarding passer - it's no big feat for them to bring it all together into the OS-level Passbook.

 

As and when Apple take it one stage further to integrate payments direct from their 300m stored debit/credit card information, NFC is blown away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Crazy Diamond

Crazy Diamond

Posted
Posted

I bought an iPhone 3GS or whatever back in about... 2009? Still got it, but I downgraded the contract from about £37 a month to £16.50 a month, simply because I wasn't getting value for money.

 

If I got an iPhone 5, would there be anything to stop me putting the sim with my cheap contract on it into the new phone and using it? I don't want to pay for a new iPhone and then have to pay a stupidly large contract (£40ish) and only send a few texts and make a few calls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BigShadow

BigShadow

Posted
Posted

I've broken the habit of a lifetime and ordered a new product on release day - the reason - Apple stuff just works. I was a relatively late convert to the Apple Party - only at iPhone4 did they finally get me and I've been very happy with my phone and subsequent iPad ever since.

 

What disappoints others about iPhone 5 is in some way impressive to me. Apple has resisted the urge to try and do everything better than the S3 - they have resisted the urge to come up with that one 'must-have' wow factor that will compel everyone to buy one. In doing so, they have taken a lot of things that the iPhone 4S does well and they have made them a little bit better. Throw in the 4" screen (don't want something as big as S3), and the addition of LTE and they have a great product...and coming from iPhone4, it will be massively better.

 

With this iPhone, Apple has confirmed its focus on developing a functional, easy-to-use aid to our everyday lives and refused to get into a p155 ing contest over who has the biggest d!ck, flashiest car or whatever. For the millions of consumers out there who are not technogeeks, I suspect this iPhone 5 will do very nicely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Thedelldays

Thedelldays

Posted
Posted
I bought an iPhone 3GS or whatever back in about... 2009? Still got it, but I downgraded the contract from about £37 a month to £16.50 a month, simply because I wasn't getting value for money.

 

If I got an iPhone 5, would there be anything to stop me putting the sim with my cheap contract on it into the new phone and using it? I don't want to pay for a new iPhone and then have to pay a stupidly large contract (£40ish) and only send a few texts and make a few calls.

 

Get giffgaff and keep your number

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BigShadow

BigShadow

Posted
Posted
I bought an iPhone 3GS or whatever back in about... 2009? Still got it, but I downgraded the contract from about £37 a month to £16.50 a month, simply because I wasn't getting value for money.

 

If I got an iPhone 5, would there be anything to stop me putting the sim with my cheap contract on it into the new phone and using it? I don't want to pay for a new iPhone and then have to pay a stupidly large contract (£40ish) and only send a few texts and make a few calls.

 

AFAIK, the iPhone 5 uses a completely new sim card so you would at least need an new sim to transfer the contract to.

 

Anyway - a non-contract 5 is going to cost you about £450 more than a contract phone. So you may be better off taking the higher contract for a couple years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Essruu

Essruu

Posted
  • Author
Posted

That's what I normally do. I have a very old O2 £20/mth contract that has is now a rolling 30 day contract so I could cancel it whenever I wanted. The main reasons I'm really keeping it going is for the convenience factor, plus it's still giving me truly unlimited data (I use roughly 3-4Gb per month.)

 

The only issue you'll have is that the iPhone 5 uses a new (smaller) Nano SIM Card, do you can't just put it straight in. The iPhone 4/4S uses a Micro SIM and your provider will send you one to replace an existing SIM. I've also cut down a few standard sized SIMS into a Micro SIM size and it works fine. I'm not sure if the standard sized SIM can be cut down to the Nano size as I've not looked into it or where the corresponding connectors are. It might be possible, but your easiest option is just to ask your network provider for a Nano SIM if you go down the iPhone 5 route.

 

I've always gone down the 'pay outright for the phone do it's unlocked and you can put any SIM in it you want or a local one when travelling overseas' route. In reality however, apart from testing other SIMs in them and not having to get a contracted network operator to unlock the iPhone when it's time to sell it, I have never bothered with a local SIM when travelling!

 

I never thought I'd go back to a contract, but 3 (my iPad data plan is with them) offered a 16Gb iPhone 5 for £79 plus a 24mth x £36 contract = £943, or a 32Gb version for £89 plus 24 x £39 = £1025. If you take off the cost of buying the phone outright (£529 or £599), you are effectively paying £17.75/mth for 2000 minutes, texts and UNLIMITED Data. This is a mega deal in my mind, particularly as 3 have purchased some of EE's 4G and will be the only other network provider that you'll get 4G LTE with when they are allowed to utilise it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Crazy Diamond

Crazy Diamond

Posted
Posted
Get giffgaff and keep your number

 

What's that then?

 

AFAIK, the iPhone 5 uses a completely new sim card so you would at least need an new sim to transfer the contract to.

 

Anyway - a non-contract 5 is going to cost you about £450 more than a contract phone. So you may be better off taking the higher contract for a couple years.

 

Yeah that occurred to me. Hmm.

 

That's what I normally do. I have a very old O2 £20/mth contract that has is now a rolling 30 day contract so I could cancel it whenever I wanted. The main reasons I'm really keeping it going is for the convenience factor, plus it's still giving me truly unlimited data (I use roughly 3-4Gb per month.)

 

The only issue you'll have is that the iPhone 5 uses a new (smaller) Nano SIM Card, do you can't just put it straight in. The iPhone 4/4S uses a Micro SIM and your provider will send you one to replace an existing SIM. I've also cut down a few standard sized SIMS into a Micro SIM size and it works fine. I'm not sure if the standard sized SIM can be cut down to the Nano size as I've not looked into it or where the corresponding connectors are. It might be possible, but your easiest option is just to ask your network provider for a Nano SIM if you go down the iPhone 5 route.

 

Sounds like what I've got at the moment. I send texts and make calls that little that it's down to £16.50 a month - but I use my iPhone every day for music and apps.

 

Cheers for the info, I might get one on contract and then after a bit ask if I can change. My ex used to text me so much that I had to get more texts on my contract in order to not get billed each month a massive amount for exceeding my tariff. I might ask if I can do the opposite, get it reduced because I'm not using it enough. Might be possible.

 

In fact, O2 rang me once to say I was paying £43 odd a month, and I was getting ripped off. That's how I came to get the cheap option with the option to change at the end of each month.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Crazy Diamond

Crazy Diamond

Posted
Posted
Even so... It's there and it's cheap as fuk

 

Look on their website. It was a piece of pish for me to transfer my number

 

Will do. Cheers for the heads up.

 

I was thinking of upgrading to the 4S not so long ago as I think my 3GS is going senile. I'm just not sure if I can justify spending a lot per month for very little use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pedg

pedg

Posted
Posted

Maybe a few cheap iPhone 4s' floating about in a few weeks

 

I do wonder if Apple made a mistake in announcing they were dropping the price of the 4S significantly at the same time as the release of the 5 as I would guess that going to significantly lower the price people are going to get for selling their old 4 and 4S's when they upgrade. Better I would have thought to have dropped the price a bit now and the lower it again after the main hump of upgrading has happened.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Essruu

Essruu

Posted
  • Author
Posted
not impressed with the iphone 5 and why would anyone waste money upgradeing from a apple 4s unless you need 4g network or slightly bigger screen and slightly thinner handset,looks poor compared to the other 4g handsets being released.

 

You could equally say the same thing about, say, the Samsung Galaxy S2v S3: yet nobody makes a fuss about that or looks to knock Samsung - because unlike Apple, nobody really expects Samsung to come up with anything groundbreaking and amazing.

 

The one big improvement the S3 had over the S2, was in the OS it ran. Yet strangely enough, this is the one area that Apple does not get enough credit for.

 

If only the iPhone 5 shipped with iOS 6, leaving the iPhone 4 & 4S with iOS 5.1.1, people would be getting excited over the whole iPhone 5 package. The fact is, Apple provide free iOS upgrades to older iPhone versions. Effectively, your iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will become a brand new handset on 19Sep if you upgrade your firmware.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Thedelldays

Thedelldays

Posted
Posted
Still really unsure which one I want. I'm going to buy one outright next month. Decisions decisions...

 

Be honest... Not a great deal of difference to a casual users...

 

Apple is apple and it is good... But the s3 is very impressive... I not a techno-geek but have spent a while exploring the ways you can customise the phone and it is pretty limitless. Be interesting to see what jelly bean (software uodate) will be like..... I know it will bring 4G capability to the s3..

 

Iphone 5 will be a little smaller but not much but the screen on the s3 is excellent time too and I have literally packed out a 16gb micro sim with music etc and thrown it in.... Another thing you can't do on an iPhone

 

I don't think you would be disappointed with either tbh

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...